Circuit-interrupter.



F. W. HARRIS.

CIRCUIT INTEBRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8. 1910.

13,1 1 3,433. Patented oct. 13, 1914.

2 saints-SHEET 1.

wlNEssEs: mvENToa www4/Je.. am

ATTORNEY Y. W. HARRIS.

CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLxcATxoN umn ocT.a.1s1o.

1,1 1 3,433. Patented 0015.13, 19m

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

lNVENTOR rwc Nosrms versus co.PN0'mALHHnv-wA5M1NGroN. ac,

5 To all 'whom 'it may concern l.

TED STATES PATENT GFECE.

EoED vv. HARRIS, or WILKINsBUEG, PE'NNsY'LvnNIA, AssIGNoE To WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CCEPCRATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

CInCU'IT-INTEEEUPTEE.

-YBeit known that- 1, FORD W.v HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, and'a'r'e'sident of Wilkinsburg, in the'v county of Allegheny andState of Pennsylvania, have-"invented a- 'neW and useful Improvement in Circuit-lm' terrupters, of which the followingis a'specii fcation; y Y Y i.

` The lobject of my inventio'nfislto provide af "simple and effective interconnecting-mechi a'nismjffoi'j aV-plur'alityV of interrupters vthat slallbe `"partcula'r'ly 'adapted to 'effect 'a con-1 currentfjopening of? said Anterrup'ters under predeterminedf'conditions,-- but which will permit- ,of separateandindependent closure "l\l y inveiitionmay bestbe understoodfb'y reference totlie aceompanyingldrawings, in Whic`h .Ljjlj f' T1 i' .i

-Figurel is a view inside elevation of a Circuit finterrupter which embodies" myl invention, and'fFig. 2 isa'view-in'frontelevalv tion of the lower portionsof two circuit in-` terrupters which` are rendered interdepend-` ent by means of' an'interconnecting mecha? nism which embodies my invention. In bothl figures, certainportionsof the interrupters are either broken awayor omitted.

Referring to the drawings, the device here illustrated comprises a plurality'lof circuit interrupters 1 and 2 of like construction, each of which comprises a pair of stationary contact terminals 3 and 4, a movable' bridgingr Contact member 5, a pair of a-rcing contact members G and 7, an operatingr mechanism 8, tripping' magnet 9, a tripping member 1t) and an interconnecting mechanism 11.

The stationa rv Contact terminal 3 is mounted uponan insulatingr slab or panel 12 and is provided with an upwardly projecting trough-shaped member 13. to receive the arcing Contact member 3. The'stationary contact terminal 4 is also vsecured to the insulatingr panel 12 and is located directly below the stationary Contact terminal 3. The stationary contact terminalf4 is electrically connected" to a conductor 14 of relatively few turnswhich is adapted to conduct comparatively large currents'and constitutes the exciting:r winding 15 of the tripping magnet Specicati'on of Letters .Pa-tient.Y

meenten oet. 13, 191,4.

. .-f Vapplication ined october s, 1910. serial No. scenes. v

9.1JA11 of themovable partshofthe interrupter are mounted Aupon stationary shafts '16,-17`an'd 1S whiclia're supported by bracket plates '19 -an lpanel 12.1" l Ther movable -bridging'contact member Eo'onprises a plurality of relatively/thin strips 21 of vcopper which are held together in `po sition curved clamping plates 22 and 23. '.T- he'oute'r clamping;r plate 23 is provided ,with aV .downwardly projecting arm I 24, the lower end of which is pivotally4 supported up'on the shaft 18.AVV A member 25 is pivotally secured to theiouter' clamping pla-te. 23 by a pin26, and the Aupper end of said member 4carries the arcing contact' member 7 =Whicl1v is adapted to cooperate with the arc- 'in gl eon'tactmember 6.- The operating'mechanism '8 comprises 'an' operating,`r` lever 30 Vwhich is mounted upon'the shaft 16 andhas an insulatinghandle 31 at vits outer end and a'fcurved inner end-32 for a purpose to be il upon the insulating Ahereinafter explained."l '1 LA"-bell crank'lever 33, comprising two double arms 34 and 35 and projections 37 and 38;'13 pivotally mounted upon the shaft 16.1' A roller 3,6 iS mounted upon a pin 30a vbetweeritliev arrris 35 of the'bellcrank lever .33 and helical springs' 39 are connected between the projections 37 and the lower end 'of the member 25. A stop 40 is provided upon bracket plate 19 to be engaged by the projection 38 of the bell crank lever 33 in order to limit the movement of said bell crank lever 33 in a clockwise direction. 'The upper ends of the arms 34 are pivotally connected to the lower end of a link 42, the upper end of which is secured to the member and the movable Contact member 5 b v the pin 26. The relative proportions and the arrangement and location of parts is such that., as the circuit interrupter is opened, the bridging contact member 5 is separated from the cooperating` stationary terminals 3 and 4 prior to the final interruption of the circuitfwhie-h is confined to the arciner contact members G and 7, as will be readily understood.

The tripping magnet 9 comprises a stationary core member 45, the exciting winding'l and aA movable core member 4G which is'secured to the inner end of a movable member 47. The movable member 47 is provided with upwardly projecting` arms 48 and 49 which are pivotally supported upon the shaft 17 and which carry an adjustable trigsible,

ger 50, an adjustable weight 51, a scale 52 to indicate positions of said weight, and a weighnaiiljusting screw 'lhe tripping member 10 is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 1T and is provided with a downward extension which is adapted to be engaged by the trigger 50, when the tripping magnet 9 is sufficiently energized.

gether at their inner ends byl a connecting web @Zand at their outer ends by a web 63, rlhe arm 'S1 -oftheauxiliary trippingmember 59 is'pivotally supported upon the shaft 17 and projects upwardly to engage the stop pin 5T. The arm G() of the auxiliaryA tripping member is provided with a lat-i orally projecting member 66, between which and the stop pin is connected a coil spring (3T to maintain said auxiliary tripping mein ber 59 normally in its upper position.

A catch GS is pivotally mounted `between the outer ends of the' arms 60 and 61, upon' a pin G9. As shown, the catch G8 is U-shaped and is maintained in engagement .with the web (33 by a spring TO which surrounds the pin G9. It will be observed, therefore, that clockwise rotation of the catch 68 is imposwhereas counter-clockwise rotation there-'d' may be accomplished in opposition to the action of the spring TO. lt will also be observed that the upper edges 71 of the catch (5S are slightly inclined to the horizontal for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. A connecting bar T2 is rigidly secured to the. outer ends of all the auxiliary tripping members .79, and, hence, said members are rendered interdependent and must more concurrently.

Assuming the various pieces of apparatus to occupy the positions shown in the drawings. the operation of the device illustrated is as follows: VTx'vhen the current traversing the magnet coil 15 exceeds a predetermined amount` the movable core member 46 is attracted to the stationary core member 45 and rotative movement is therefore imparted to the movable member 4T. As the movable member 4T is thus moved in a clockwise direction, the trigger 5() engages the downward extension 5l of the tripping member 10 and rl"he member 10 is also providedA with a latch 55 to engage the roller 36and engagement with mechanism 11 comthereby causes the latch 55 to be disengaged from the roller 3G. The operating mecha` nism 8 is therefore released and the lweight of the interruptor parts and the action of the springs 39 cause the toggle, formed by the connecting link and the arms 31 of the bell crank lever 33, to collapse, thereby cffecting 'the"separatien of the cooperating -movable and stationary contact members. TAS the toggle collapses, thearms `35 ofthe4 bellcranl; lever 33' are moved inacounterclockwlseidirection, and, 1nso doing, come into engagement` with the;` inclined-'upper edges 71 ot the catch68. Inasmuch as clockf Iwise movement of the catch 68. is prevented,

theauxil iary, tripping Amember -59 is `forced downwardly by reason of the engagementl of. the arms of the bell crank lever with the'jinclinjediedges 71 of'lfthefcatch ,68.7.11Itfis,

evident that the downward movement thus limpartedtothe auxiliary iltripping members 5,-9 of the circuit interrupterl is alsotransmitted to the'tripping member 59 ofgthe cir- Cuit..-ntefluptltrZI-,by .reason 0f the. rigid connecting .member ,72I` Qn .account4 ofthe engagement-.off the. `Webs 6 2 gwitli. the downward. extensions, 5ft1 `5ofathe tripping members- 10, any downwardmovement of eitherv gagea portion 3"of the'tripping .member 10, :and thus release the latch 55.4from'the roller 36. V,The remainder of the opening operationfis similar vto that 'hereinbefore described andwill be readily understood by those skilled in the art. Assuming the circuit interrupter to be opened, the operatie-n of-closing is as follows: The operating handle 31 is forced downwardly to its extreme lower position, thereby causing the curved extension member 32 to engage the lower end of the connecting link 42 and .force the toggle, formed by said connecting link and the arms 34 of the bell crank lever 33, nearly into its dead center position. Thisactioncauses a. successive closure of the 'arcing contact members 6 and and the cooperating bridging Contact member 5 and the stationary contact terminals 3 and 4r. lt will* be observed that, as the bell crank lever member 33 is caused to rotate in a clockwise direction during the closing operation, the lower ends of the arms 35 come into engagement with the catch G8. However, as the counter-clockwise rotation of said catch is unrestricted, except by the action of the spring T0, said catch is merely rotated upon its shaftA 69, thus allowing the bell crank lever member 33 to pass Without imparting any movement to the auxiliary tripping members 59. It is therefore evident that separate and independent closures of circuit interrupters l and 2 may be effected.

Although I have shown an interconnectingr mechanism as applied to two circuit interrupters of a particular type, it will be understood, by those skilled in the art, that any number of interrupters may be so interconnected and that my invention is not restricted to circuit interrupters of any particular construction.

Many modications in the structural details and in the arrangement and location of parts may be effected Within the scope of my invention and I desire that'only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. rI`he combination with a plurality of circuit interrupters having individual automatic tripping devices and individual operating handles, of means associated with each handle for actuating its associated tripping device, and means for interconnecting said devices to secure concurrent opening of said interrupters and for permitting saidinterrupters to be closed separately.

2. The combination With a plurality of circuit interrupters, and means for effecting concurrent automatic opening thereof and for permitting independent closure of said interrupters, of means associated with the operating handle of each interrupter for manually eiecting a concurrent opening of all of said interrupters.

The combination with a plurality of circuit interrupters, each provided with an operating mechanism and handle, a latch to restrain said mechanism, and a tripping device and magnet to release said latch, of means associated with each handle for releasing said latch, an intermediate member associated with each interrupter and adapted to be actuated by said operating mechanism to release said latch, and an interconnecting means for securing concurrent action of said intermediate members,

4. The combination with a plurality of circuit interrupters each provided with an operating mechanism and handle, means for restraining said mechanism, an automatic tripping device to release said restraining means and means associated with said handle for releasing said restraining means, of an interconnecting mechanism associated with each interrupter and adapted to be actuated by any interrupter to release said restraining means of all interrupters.

5. The combination with a plurality of circuit interrupters, each comprising coperating stationary and movable Contact members, an operating mechanism and handle for said movable members, means for restraining said operating mechanism, automatic means for releasing said restraining means and means associa-ted with said handle for releasing said restraining means, of mechanical means dependent upon -tbe opening of any interrupter for releasing said restraining means of the remaining interrupters, and means associated with said mechanical means for permitting independent closure of said interrupters.

6. The combination with a plurality of circuit interrupters, each comprising coperating stationary and movable contact members, an operating mechanism for said movable members and an, operating handle therefor having a latch-engaging projection, of a tripping magnet and movable core member therefor, a latch to restrain said operating mechanism and to be released by said movable core member or said projection, a pivotally supported auxiliary member also adapted to release said latch, a catch member pivotally mounted upon the free end of said auxiliary member and capable of rotative movement in one direction only and also adapted t0 be engaged by said operating mechanism when said interrupter is opened or closed, and means for interoonnecting all of said auxiliary members.

7. The combination with' a plurality of circuit interrupters, automatic means associated with each interrupter for effecting its release, and means interconnecting parts of each automatic means, of means associated with each interrupter and coperating with parts of said automatic releasing means for manually effecting the release of all said interrupters.

8. In an electrical protective device a plurality of circuit interrupters severally comprising a toggle mechanism, a latching device for said toggle mechanism, automatic means for tripping said latching device, an operating handle for said toggle mechanism and for manually tripping said latching device, and means actuated by the toggle mechanism of one of the said interrupters to concurrently trip the latching devices of the other interrupters.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th day of Sept.

FORD W. HARRIS. lVitnesses:

VVInsoN L. WRIGHT, B. B. HINES.

Copiez of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C.

llO 

